Finnish miner Talvivaara's uranium permit delayed -report

Monday, 8 Oct 2012 | 4:56 AM ET

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HELSINKI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Finnish miner Talvivaara

will have to wait longer than expected for an environmental permit to extract uranium at its mine in eastern Finland, news agency STT reported on Monday, raising the risk of delays to its production plans.

The report said Talvivaara will need to wait until early next year for the permit, although the local agency had previously said it would decide on the permits this year.

The process has been slowed down by 150 appeals from citizens and non-governmental organisations, the report said.

Talvivaara's Sotkamo mine mainly produces nickel and zinc, but it had applied for permission to extract uranium, a by-product.

The company has estimated its annual production could be around 350 tonnes of uranium metal, and has agreed to sell uranium to Canadian producer Cameco .

Local authorities and Talvivaara officials were not immediately available for comment.